SANTA ANA : Sleeping Transient Is Killed by Truck
A transient sleeping in a cardboard box behind a market was crushed to death Thursday morning under the wheels of a tractor-trailer that was backing up to the rear of the store, police said.
Roberto Abata, 45, who has no known address, apparently was killed about 6 a.m. as he slept under the loading dock of the Santa Ana Food Market in the 1200 block of West 1st Street, said Maureen Thomas, a police spokeswoman. Abata’s body was not found until 8:15 a.m., when a passer-by alerted market employees, who then called police.
Thomas said that sometime in the evening, Abata grabbed a large cardboard box to sleep in and crawled underneath the loading dock.
His presence was unknown to Fernando Castro, 32, a truck driver for San Diego-based Harvest Meat Co. who arrived at the market in his 18-wheel rig to make a delivery, police said. After Castro unloaded the truck, he drove to a nearby street to sleep.
Castro, who was questioned by police, was not cited. “He was unaware that he had run over anyone,” Thomas said. “We are ruling this an accident.”
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